WATSONS BISTRO: CONWY NORTH WALES: SUPERB FOR VEGETARIANS

Conwy is a special place. I have been visiting the Conwy area of the North Wales coast for over 30 years. The town, the coast and the area of Snowdonia National Park that it adjoins resonates with me, as a poet, And in the silences in between.

From childhood holidays, sandcastles on the beach that stretches almost as far as Anglesey, to the shimmering sunsets in Summer and the haunting light over the sea in Autumn.

My parents have a static caravan near Conwy nestled under the lower Snowdonia hills with a view over the sea.

Conwy is a small fishing town with a famous castle, and a quaint Cornwall like harbour that is big on fish and has its own food festival in October. It’s a charming town and very popular in the Summer months.

Ruth and I visit often and on this occasion we were there to celebrate my Mums birthday.

Watsons Bistro is our go to place in Conwy, as it’s superb for vegetarians. They regularly change their options and they are always creative and use the best market fresh ingredients sourced locally and at their best, bang in season.

All Watsons food is made in the premises from the bread to the ice creams and sorbets. It’s a lovely, cosy and light restaurant that cares about its welcome and the food it serves.

Watsons Bistro is nestled under part of the historic town walls of Conwy and is a delightful and friendly family run restaurant.

As I’ve said what makes Watsons stand out from other restaurants for miles for me is its superb vegetarian dishes. Watsons offer all vegetarian starters as mains and mains can be made up as starters. They also adapt some of the other dishes for vegetarians too.

Watsons is split into two rooms, one larger room and one conservatory area which is lovely in the sunshine or in candle light. This overlooks a small courtyard which is used in the daytime.

One of the first issues is deciding what to order as their are numerous tempting choices.

We were brought initially some home made bread. For my starter I ordered:

The Ragout of seasonal girolle mushrooms, puy lentils, leeks and soya beans in a mini cob with brandy cream.

It was a lovely dish the deep flavoured mushrooms blended with the lentils and brandy cream created a harmonious texture that sitting inside the warm cob made an indulgent starter.

I enjoyed this dish, the local Welsh Brie has a lovely mellow flavour that complimented the sweet notes of the roasted sweet potato that sat next to it. The tomato chutney gave the dish a spicy bite that was delicious, and different. I liked the oven baked Brie, as it gave to a really substantial main course.

All main courses are served with seasonal vegetables and potatoes to share amongst the table. So go to Watsons with an appetite:)

For desert I ordered

A hot chocolate fondant with sour cherry ice cream.

The fondant was delicious, gooey, runny, with a deep chocolate flavour one of the best I have had anywhere. The rich chocolate set against the sour cherry flavour of the ice cream showed a good technique and the fondant as executed perfectly.

We were also given a vegan brownie that was delicious as an extra.

Eating at Watsons is a truly memorable experience that sets it apart from many of the other restaurants in the area. For vegetarians it is unique in that the options are varied, creative and interesting rather than the pasta, risotto norm. The portions are of a good size, a proper dinner you may say and of excellent value for the price.

Watsons is an example to the region in its market fresh and seasonal ethos which uses the superb produce that can be found in Wales well and in interesting ways.

I’ve been a number of times and haven’t had the same dish twice. The standards are always high, from the warm friendly service to the presentation and care in the food.

For delicious and seasonal dishes Watsons Bistro in Conwy i think is the leader on the North Wales coast.

Visit Conwy, for the scenery, for the castle, but visit for the food which is as first class as the welcome.